Assignment Instructions
Utilize at least five empirical articles published within the last 10 years in peer-reviewed journals. These articles should be program evaluations dealing with interventions for teen parents. (See the Teen Parenting Case Study [PDF] Download Teen Parenting Case Study [PDF].) Organize the information into subheadings. The order of your literature review follows:
Introduction: Orient the reader to the case study topic—teen parenting programs—and tell the reader what to expect in this section by identifying the major subsections that follow in your thesis statement.
Nature of the problem: Address the prevalence of teen parenting, changes over time, and consequences of teen parenting.
Causes of the problem: Apply theoretical and social work knowledge to this issue and explain some of the risks associated with teen parenting (for example, mental health outcomes for the parent and abusive parenting practices). The causes you describe here should be directly related to the proposed interventions.
Interventions: This section should be the most substantive part of this literature review. Review interventions that have been utilized to serve teen parents. Note that this is a literature review, not an annotated bibliography, so you should be integrating your discussion of various studies. Include a paragraph about what is not known about solving the problem and current gaps in knowledge. Assess the guiding practice theory connected to the problem. Also, describe the program evaluation theory connected to the proposed methodology.
Summary: This section should point out the major areas of knowledge that have yet to be developed regarding this topic and identify the unique contributions your study makes to this need; point out the importance of learning the new information your study will offer.
Problem Statement and Guiding Research Questions
What is the problem this program evaluation is trying to address?
Include your research questions. Since this is a program evaluation, you should have an independent variable and dependent variable clearly stated in your questions.
See Case Study Below:
Teen Parenting Case Study
Your agency is providing eight-week parenting classes for teen parents in an urban
environment. Services are open to both teen mothers and teen fathers, and their children can
be any age. You get referrals from local schools, hospitals, social service agencies, and the
Department of Children and Family Services. The interventions of the program include a weekly
parenting class, dealing with topics such as child development, effective communication with
children, stress management, and compassionate behavior management strategies. The
anticipated outcomes of the program include:
• Increased knowledge about child development.
• Increased sense of competence in parenting.
• Decreased reported stress levels.
• Beliefs in line with compassionate behavior management strategies rather than using
corporal punishment.
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